Author: SLSC

The Lions host ECU Joondalup on Saturday with only goal difference keeping them out of the bottom three.

They lost 2-1 to Sorrento last week, their fifth successive defeat, and Ashley is banking on the return of three first-team regulars to bring an upturn in their fortune.

“We’ve had a bit of a slump and we’re working hard to get out of it,” Ashley said.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries and suspensions, which hasn’t helped, so we get some key players back now which will help the side. Dean Cummings, Darren O’Riordan and Alex Suleski, they’re three that have regularly featured.

“ECU is always a tough game and they beat us earlier in the season, but you know what, it’s dog eat dog now and we need results.”

Ashley said his team were slow out of the blocks in the loss to Sorrento but that it was their inability to finish that ultimately proved costly.

He said: “The first 25 minutes we were poor but after that we started to dominate but just couldn’t find the back of the net. We’ve created lots and lots of opportunities, just young lads lacking that composure to finish.

“But if a team can get two or three wins in a row that can get you right up.”

ECU’s season is in danger of falling flat and coach Dale McCulloch will want his side to tighten up after they leaked five at home to new league leaders Perth Glory last week.

Glory, who have a two-point cushion at the top with eight matches to play, are at home to Floreat Athena on Sunday, while second-place Bayswater City travel to Armadale as they seek to avoid a third straight loss.

Cockburn City will expect to put pressure on the front two when they play at home to bottom side Joondalup United, while Inglewood in fourth are at Sorrento.

The other fixtures see Subiaco at home to Balcatta and Forrestfield United host Perth SC.

Cockburn City produced a storming second-half comeback to see off Stirling Lions 4-2 at Dalmatinac Park on Saturday.

The Lions were well placed at half-time after bossing the opening period and well worth their 2-1 lead. But they succumbed after the break as Cockburn maintained their 100 per cent start to the new NPL season.

Cockburn even had defender Daniel Dols sent off four minutes from time with the score at 3-2, but that didn’t stop them adding a fourth goal.

Cockerels coach Scott Miller admitted his team were second best before the break but also praised their recovery.

“Honestly, Stirling did dominate us in the first half, their movement was fantastic,” Miller said.

“However, after we adjusted a couple of things we dominated the second half. We played a very good team tonight and we got everything we deserved in the end.

“This part of the year is great because you want to try and build some confidence, so that’s what we’ll do.”

Luccas Mello opened the scoring for Cockburn after 24 minutes but Stirling were soon on terms through Alex Tanevski.

And the Lions deservedly nosed ahead in the 32nd minute when Tanevski grabbed his second following a neat pass from Dean Cummings.

But the game turned around completely in the second half. On 56 minutes Cockburn were level through Aden Da Luz and 15 minutes from time they regained the lead when Cameron Edwards struck.

Yet the Lions were thrown a lifeline when Dols, who had earlier been booked, was sent off. But Cockburn wrapped up the points in injury time with a goal from Ryan Pratt.

Stirling coach Keegan Ashley said: “For the next round, we’ll assess ourselves during the week and go from there.”

A fiery clash between Inglewood United and Stirling Lions ended in a 2-2 draw at Perth Plasterboard Centre Stadium in round one of the 2018 NPLWA season.

Stirling Lions coach Keegan Ashley felt his team should have taken home the points.

“I’m disappointed, to a degree,” he said.

“But you know, first game, reasonably happy with the result.

“I think we stopped a little, for the first 20 in the second half. But then when we got going again, we created enough chances to win the game so overall I really can’t fault the boys all that much.”

Stirling went ahead as early as the 3rd minute with a scrappy finish from star forward Robert Petkov, who forced his way through the defence.

The visitors were happy to sit back and counter for the first 20 minutes. Inglewood were made to look uncomfortable in possession and turned the ball over on numerous occasions, leading to a number of chances that fell to Alex Tanevski and David Micevski, who were unlucky not to add to the lead in the first half.

The home side’s first real chance came in the 28th minute when Scott Robertson found himself unmarked at the back post, but his shot was high and wide from close range.

Just before half time, Tanevski was presented with a glorious opportunity, but his shot went just wide.

As the referee blew the whistle for half time, Scott Robertson was sent off for unsportsmanlike behaviour, leaving Inglewood with a man down for the second half.

Despite that, Inglewood came out strong after the break and Ellis Healing scored a sublime free kick to level the proceedings and swing the momentum in favour of the home side.

David Molinari came close for the visitors on several occasions, and his shot cannoned of the cross-bar in the 55th minute. Just five minutes later, his free kick was parried away by Alex Dunn.

Dunn also did well to keep out a great effort from Micevski in the 67th minutebut he could do little about the effort from Tanevski just two minutes later. Tanevski went on a great solo run, muscling his way past the defence, before gliding the ball past Dunn.

Inglewood responded immediately after the restart as David Cyrus levelled the game once more with a powerful header and the near post just four minutes later.

Both teams had the chance to win it in stoppage time as neither was willing to settle for the point, but both failed to capitalise on their chances.

Inglewood assistant coach Contera felt the home side clearly lost 2 points.

“We think it’s two points dropped,” he said.

“We’re obviously happy that we fought back and showed character in the second half and got a point out of it, but our first half display wasn’t good enough today.

“We let ourselves down. We were lucky that we fought in the second half and salvaged a point.”